It Would Take a Miracle
by Taramisu
Summary: A BtVS/Princess Bride crossover. The SG discovers a way to revive a Slightly Dead Slayer.
1. Prologue - The Idea

It Would Take a Miracle

It Would Take a Miracle 

**************************** 

TITLE: It Would Take a Miracle   
AUTHOR: Taramisu   
E-MAIL: taramisu@channelingboards.com   
ARCHIVED: http://www.channelingboards.com/Fanfiction/fiction.html   
SUMMARY: A BtVS/Princess Bride crossover. The SG discovers a way to revive a slightly dead Slayer.   
RATING: PG or PG-13 for language   
TIMELINE: Directly follows "The Gift"   
DISTRIBUTION: If you must. Just let me know. ;-)   
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters...duh! None of them…not a single person.   
WRITTEN: 5/26/01   
CATEGORY: Humor/Drama 

**************************** 

Prologue 

It was a grim day for certain. The mourners consisted of seven, but those affected would be billions. Buffy's closest group of friends, really her family, stood over her in shock. What would they do now? What would happen to the fate of the world? Who would care for Dawn, a mere 14 years of age, but now aged beyond her years in just the last six months alone? 

No one knew for certain. Actually, no one knew at all. 

"I will take care of the arrangements." Giles knew he would one day say this. The pain it caused far exceeded his expectations, however. 

Small conversations began as Buffy's family slowly returned to reality. But one remained frozen in his thoughts. 

"Xander?" Anya shoved his shoulder a bit. "Come on Xander. It's time to go. I know it's hard to see her dead like this. I…" 

"NO!" 

Anya, in her level, practical way, slapped his face. "Snap out of it! She's gone." 

"No. She's not." The gang looked in his direction, worried about the young man's sanity. 

"Um. Yes. She's dea…" 

"Anya! Listen to me. She's not dead. Joss even said so." Not a soul uttered a sound. "He told UPN that Buffy would be slightly dead at the beginning of season 6." He looked around at everyone, but upon seeing no understanding in their faces, continued. "Not completely dead, SLIGHTLY dead. There's a difference." 

Amid the blank stares and silence lofted a voice. "Of course!" Willow looked at the blonde with a questioning glance. "There's a miracle worker, deep in the forest named Miracle Max." Xander's eyes filled with happiness at the revelation that he was not the only one in the group who had heard of the old hermit. 

"I must say, Xander. You and Tara have completely lost your sanity." 

"No, Giles. It's true!" Anya joined in. 

A glimmer of hope slowly passed from Xander's eyes, to Tara's, to Anya's, to Willow's, to Giles', to Dawn's, and finally to Spike's. The leather clad vampire rose and exclaimed with certainty, "Well, then mates, let's get a move on here!" He gently lifted his Love's slightly dead body, cradling her in his arms as a lover would. 

Anya led the way. 

********************************************** 

To Be Continued


	2. Part 1 - Miracle Max

It Would Take a Miracle

It Would Take a Miracle 

************************* TITLE: It Would Take a Miracle   
AUTHOR: Taramisu   
E-MAIL: taramisu@channelingboards.com   
ARCHIVED: http://www.channelingboards.com/Fanfiction/fiction.html   
SUMMARY: A BtVS/Princess Bride crossover. The SG discovers a way to revive a slightly dead Slayer.   
RATING: PG or PG-13 for language   
TIMELINE: Directly follows "The Gift"   
DISTRIBUTION: If you must. Just let me know. ;-)   
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters...duh! None of them…not a single person.   
WRITTEN: 5/26/01   
CATEGORY: Humor/Drama 

************************* 

Part 1 

Their trek through the thickly treed forest ended in front of a grass roofed hut. 

"Wow. How come I never noticed this before?" 

"You don't know everything about Sunnydale, you know." Anya's knowledge of some things frightened most of the SG, especially Willow. 

Spike quickly became quite disturbed at the lack of movement in the crowd. "Will one of you troncers knock already?!" 

Anya propelled herself forward and knocked with all her might. 

There was no answer. 

"Maybe he's out…miracling someone." 

Xander rolled his eyes at his fiancé, the stepped forward to knock himself. "Hey, Max! Open the door! We got a dead girl here!" 

A small door opened at head-level and an old, wrinkly face peered out. 

"What do you want?" he snapped. 

"Are you Miracle Max?" 

"That depends. Who are you?" 

"Who we are is of no consequence to you. This young lady," Giles motioned to the limp Buffy, "is Buffy Summers, one of the only Vampire Slayers to live passed her 18th birthd…" 

"Yeah, yeah. Why should I help her? Seems she lived a long life, for her kind." 

Spike had had enough. His gorgeous human features slipped into those of the demon's and Max became quite uncomfortable. "Listen, you sodding wanker. You're gonna help this lady here, and you're gonna do it before I get pissed and do something you'll regret. Got it, Peaches?" His toothy grin was all the encouragement the recluse needed. While Spike's companions would certainly not have normally approved of such behavior, they had to admit that sometimes having a vampire around was quite convenient. 

"Well, since you put it that way, bring her in and I'll take a look." 

******************************************* 

Max poked and prodded the young woman while her friends stood around her, hoping for the miracle that only Miracle Max could provide. Xander wrung his hands while Spike lit a cigarette. Valerie, the miracle man's wife, suddenly appeared, snatched the offending cancer stick from his lips and chucked it out the window. "No smoking in my hut, Barbarian!" Spike was too stunned to say anything. The sight of the little troll-esque woman held him still and dumb…that is, until he heard a giggle emanate from Xander. 

"I've seen much worse. Many years ago, there was this guy, "Man in Black" I think they called him. Anyway, he was Mostly dead, but I managed to bring him back. Of course, he had something important to live for. 

Willow took this chance to try and help the situation along. "Ooh! Ooh! She's got the world to live for. She's got us. She's got…everything!" 

"Well, we'll see about that." Max sauntered over to his fireplace to grab the bellows. On his way back to the blonde, he continued muttering, "It just so happens that your friend here is only Mostly dead. There's a big difference between Mostly dead and All dead." 

"No! She's only Slightly dead. I'm sure of it. Mr. Whedon said so." Xander wanted to make sure Max understood what they already knew. 

"Hoo hoo hoo! Look who knows so much, heh? Well, please, open her mouth." Willow approached and did so. "Now, Slightly dead is Mostly alive. Now, All dead...well, with All dead, there's usually only one thing you can do." 

Spike narrowed his eyes and asked, "What's that?" 

"Go through her clothes and look for loose change." 

Max put the bellows to Buffy's mouth, and blew three rounds of air into her dead lungs. "Hey! Hello in there! Hey! What's so important? What you got here that's worth living for?" Max then pressed gently but firmly on her chest to force out the air. 

All remained frozen stiff, staring closely at the Slayer, hoping for the best. 

Then they heard it. The air passed over her lips and it was obvious that she was saying something. 

"Dawn, Giles, Willow, Xander, Angel, and spewwwwwwsh." Her air had run out. 

"Hey now!! Make her do that again. She was just about to say my name!!" 

A chorus rang out, "Shut up Spike!" 

"I take it that's you folks." 

"Yes, it is. Now, can you help her?" Giles was in no mood for playing these games. 

"Well, of course. If I can revive a Mostly dead man just living for true love, then I can certainly revive a Slightly dead woman living for her family." 

Cheers filled the little hut as Max and Valerie sat together, preparing the miracle pill. When it was finished, Valerie painted it with a chocolate coating (to make it go down easier), and recited the instructions. "You have to wait fifteen minutes for full potency, and she shouldn't go in swimming after for at least an hour." 

Spike gathered up his Buffy, Dawn took the pill, then they all hurried back to the Summer's house to wait for a miracle. 

  
Valerie waved to their retreating figures, "Bye-bye, guys!" 

Max waved in the same fashion. "Have fun saving the world!" 

"Think it'll work?" 

"It would take a miracle." 

**********************************************   



	3. Part 2 - It's Alive!

It Would Take a Miracle

It Would Take a Miracle 

************************* TITLE: It Would Take a Miracle   
AUTHOR: Taramisu   
E-MAIL: taramisu@channelingboards.com   
ARCHIVED: http://www.channelingboards.com/Fanfiction/fiction.html   
SUMMARY: A BtVS/Princess Bride crossover. The SG discovers a way to revive a slightly dead Slayer.   
RATING: PG or PG-13 for language   
TIMELINE: Directly follows "The Gift"   
DISTRIBUTION: If you must. Just let me know. ;-)   
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters...duh! None of them…not a single person.   
WRITTEN: 5/26/01   
CATEGORY: Humor/Drama 

************************* 

Part 2 (Conclusion) 

Giles slammed the door open and Spike blew passed him, whisking the Slayer upstairs to her bed. "How did he do that? Did you reinvite him, Dawn?" 

"No, I didn't. I don't think Buffy did either." No one wanted to take the time to contemplate. They just followed the vampire upstairs, Willow bringing up the rear with a glass of water. 

"Man, this pill is freakin' huge! How is she ever going to swallow it being dead like that?" Dawn fingered the brown lump, reflecting on its size and shape. She absentmindedly wondered how a pill would bring a human back to life. And what was this garbage about being Slightly dead anyway? You were either alive or you were dead…right? Then she realized, what does a six month old know? It might just work. 

Spike awkwardly laid Buffy out on her bed. It didn't take long for Willow and Xander to push passed him and pull her up into a sitting position, propped up on pillows. 

"Well, here goes everything." The red-haired witch opened Buffy's mouth, placed the pill on her tongue, then attempted to coax it down with different movements of the Slightly dead girl's head. 

"It is…down?" 

"I think so, Dawn. If it is, I guess we'll know in a second." 

Seven pairs of eyes bore into the slight figure upon the frilly bed. They waited in silence. 

And waited. 

And waited. 

Tara sneezed. The remaining six bodies jumped, then bestowed upon her the Evil Eye. 

More waiting. 

"Maybe it's in her lungs, Willow. Perhaps…" Giles jumped at the sound he heard. 

"Dawn! You're alright!" Buffy's eyes were open…and she was speaking. 

Dawn's eyes immediately filled with tears as she jumped onto the bed to hold her sister close. "Buffy! You're alive! You're…here!" The young girl continued to embrace and kiss her sister, quite unaware that her affections were not being returned. 

"Um, Dawn." 

"Nothing else matters, 'cuz you're alright! Glory's dead, the portal is closed and you're alright!!" 

"Dawn. Please. Get. Up. You're killing me." The girl removed herself, backed up and looked closely at her newly animated sister. 

"You're not alright, are you?" 

"Can't move a muscle. What the hell did you guys do to me?" Buffy's eyes batted around the room furiously. 

Giles stepped forward. "It was a miracle, Buffy." Despite her obvious predicament, he could not hide the smile of relief on his lips. "You were dead. We brought you back to life. You should regain your movement in about 15 minutes. At least that was what Miracle Max's wife told us." 

"The who what said huh?" 

Xander approached, much in the same way as the Watcher had, with the same expression of relief and love on his face. "Yeah. Buff. You were dead. Only you weren't All dead, just Slightly dead. See, there's a difference." 

"Yeah, that clears it right up for me." Her thumb switched minutely. 

"Hey! Your thumb just moved! Isn't that terrific?" Anya couldn't help but notice and try to join in the conversation. 

Buffy threw her head over to glare at the ex-demon. 

"See! Now you moved your head!" 

"Will you all please stop staring at me. I feel like I'm an exhibit." 

"Yeah, sure Buff. You need anything, and we're there for yah." Xander took Anya by the arm and led her downstairs. Hopefully he would find some Twinkies or Ho-Hos in the kitchen. Dawn followed yelling about him always eating the good junk food. 

Willow bent down and gave her a kiss. "I'm glad you're here, Buffy. The thought of you being dead…well…it was definitely of the bad." 

"Hey! You can't keep Buffy dead. Haven't you figured that out by now?" The witch giggled, then left once Tara had given the patient a small hug. 

Spike just looked at the floor, making small patterns with his foot. "Right then. Welcome back, Slayer." Spike had entertained the idea of being able to do anything to Buffy's body he wanted to. What was she going to do? Blink him to death? Granted he never would, but the thought gave him a happy all the same. 

"Spike." Buffy quietly called. "I'll talk to you later." Instead of the stern face he expected, Spike looked up to see the most glorious smile in the world. It was actually quite small and almost unnoticeable, but to the vampire, it couldn't have been warmer. 

"Yes, mam." He turned and left Giles alone with the girl. 

Neither spoke for a moment. Buffy struggled to move her arms and invite her Watcher into an embrace. He joyfully accepted. "Oh, Buffy. I'm so proud of you." 

"I know." She paused. "Thanks…for this." 

"It was Xander's idea." Giles backed off and looked at his Slayer. She was so beautiful. The best daughter he could have ever hoped for. 

"Xander. Knew how to bring me back to life?" 

The man giggled a touch. "He is surprising at times, is he not?" 

"Hey, Giles. Can I have a minute alone? I'd like to…well…think about things for a few. I'm a little overwhelmed by all this." 

"As you wish." 

Giles left the room, gently closed the door behind him, then joined the rest of the family for some together time.   
  
  
  


********************************************** END 


End file.
